Reasons to Stay
by Only Insanity Rules Here
Summary: When Jack finds out that Gray is planning to leave Mineral Town before Christmas in the City, he is devastated and plans to give Gray a reason to stay. Jack/Gray


_Well, peeps, since your author has acquired a boyfriend (whee!), she has very little time to be working on fanfiction. Add that to college, and you have a recipe a few years of total soul suckage and no time at all. But I have clawed my way away from both boyfriend and college for a few days, enough to start this totally random Christmas Fanfiction early (really early), just for you._

_Never let it be said that I don't try._

_Anyway, for a change of pace, this will be a Harvest Moon fanfiction, because I am totally in love with the fandom, and this idea has been floating around for a while. I hope you enjoy this._

_Rated M for Mature Content somewhere in the end, just to be safe._

_I do not own Harvest Moon. And, now that I think about it, I think that that is a very, _very_ good thing._

xXxXxXx

Gray was starting to really hate Mineral Town. Years ago he'd been too stubborn to admit it to anyone, and then Mary, sweet little librarian of the Farming Town, had shown him what the natural wildlife around the village really had to offer. He began reading the books in Mary's Library and had come to acquire a deep well of knowledge about Mineral Town that was almost next to useless to him, but vaguely interesting. After a few years, he realized that he'd had a crush on Mary, but never before had he had a potential love interest, so he'd kept quiet, for he hadn't known what to do.

And then, Mary had excitedly told him all about how wonderful a man called Makoto was in Forget-Me-Not Valley, where Basil had taken to researching, and before Gray really knew what had happened, Mary had shyly asked him to be at her wedding, in the spring. Gray had wanted to say no, but Mary was his best friend in the world, and he'd always love her in one way or another, so he quietly let his crush go.

Mary had moved to Forget-Me-Not Valley to live on Makoto's farm, and then life for Gray in Mineral Town had become terribly dull. Mary was gone, and the Library was only open because Sasha kept it that way. Saibara, his _dear_ grandfather – thought of with a healthy amount of sarcasm and resentment – still thought of him as totally useless. No one really spoke to him (except for Cliff, who shared his room in the Inn), and Gray spent his time doing absolutely nothing. Worst of all, everyone around him seemed to go insane and get married. Irrationally, inexplicably, immaturely, Gray was jealous of Popuri, because the giggly, girly, bubbly, happy chicken girl was given the chance to go off and live in the city for three quarters of the year.

Gray had so far managed to live with all of these changes for a year and a half. However, as he watched the first snow fall around him on the first of Winter and he thought of all of this, he realized now that nothing was holding him back in Mineral Town anymore. He was perfectly old enough to move with what little money he had to the city, get a job and live where he really wanted to be.

"The city..."

xXxXxXx

"Do you _really_ believe that _you_ could survive in the city, on your own? You can barely make it out _here_."

Gray didn't let his grandfather's cutting words hurt him beyond the initial sting. He'd made up his mind, and would be moving to the city, near his old home, sometime during the Christmas holidays (something that Mineral Town lacked). Saibara shouldn't really have cared about him at all, seeing as how the man believed that he was a total waste of space anyway. However, considering the man was his grandfather, Gray had decided that Saibara deserved to know.

"What money do you have to live off of, eh?" Saibara continued, not even looking up from whatever he was working on. "And what job do you plan on getting? You can't do anything."

Gray held in his automatic response of "I can too!" in favor of shrugging, and saying, "I finished my education. I'm sure that I can find something eventually."

"Yeah, you go ahead and think that," Saibara said shortly. "Go and do something productive: Leave the shop, you're distracting."

Gray obeyed, only because he had nothing better to do anyway. He was headed back to the Inn, for he needed to gather whatever belongings he could be sure he wasn't going to use. The snow under his feet crunched almost pleasantly as he walked, and he stopped when he stood in front of the Natsume Farm. The sign overhead was faded, and there seemed to be no life on the vast field, save for the energetic play of two dogs and the slow trot of a single horse. Gray did not see what was so special about this barren place, enough to convince the whole village that the owner (Jack, he believed) was suited for life in Mineral Town.

Gray jumped a small bit when a puppy bounded up to him, darted between his legs and growled in play at a much bigger dog of the same golden color. The bigger dog looked up at him, seemed to hesitate, and then Gray yelped in shock when a wet tongue licked his hand. In a flash, both dogs ran off to play around the horse, which did not really seem to mind. Gray couldn't help but smile a little; that had been the first bit of friendly contact that was not forced since Mary had gotten married and had left.

And, Gray admitted to himself quietly, if that was the only contact he was going to get, he _really_ didn't have anything holding him back.

xXxXxXx

"What...?"

"You didn't know? Gray is leaving for the city sometime near the twenty-fifth. He told me that when I asked him about his payments to live here."

"...No..."

Jack could not believe what he'd just heard. All through his five years of living in Mineral Town, things had been constant, to a degree. He hadn't really made that much time to talk to anyone in his first years in his panic to get his farm back on its feet, but in the last few, he'd made incredible friends with most people. Gray, however, had kind of faded into the background, but he'd still been a constant presence in Jack's life. He'd been the mysterious apprentice that had seemed to have enormous potential and a thirst to prove himself that Jack had found himself attracted to. He'd never approached Gray to speak to him directly in the fear that he'd somehow _know_, and he'd seemed attached to Mary at the time, too. Now, though, Jack was left hanging and Gray was _leaving_...

Doug was looking at him strangely, but Jack could not bring himself to care. Why had Gray stayed in a place for so long if he knew that he'd just be leaving? What had changed so drastically to make him decide to cut ties to the place where he'd lived for so long?

Jack had his answer before his questions had finished forming, though, and it came at him in a rush of a terrible and frightening understanding: Mary. Mary had been Gray's anchor to Mineral Town by being his friend. He'd stayed in the quiet of the farming community because Mary herself had been enough for him. Mary had moved over a year and a half ago, thus removing herself from Gray's life and taking with her his willingness to stay.

Suddenly, Jack was surprised that Gray had stayed for so long. No one spoke to Gray, and no one made time for him, all of them too busy with their own lives to notice the suffering of a single man. They'd unconsciously ostracized him, and they'd ruined his will to live in the close community. Jack totally understood.

That didn't mean that he wouldn't be upset about Gray's decision, though. Call it selfish, but Jack wanted Gray to stay. Jack wanted Gray to see the wonders of Mineral Town. Jack wanted Gray to see the many reasons why Mineral Town was infinitely better than any city in the world. Jack wanted Gray to see that, whatever a city had that Mineral Town didn't, it paled in comparison to the things that lay just out of his line of sight, right under his nose.

Jack wanted to give Gray a reason to stay.

He would start right then.

xXxXxXx

"Gray! Gray, wait up!"

Gray was puzzled, at first, at the voice that was calling him, but he turned anyway. The farmer from Natsume Farm, Jack, was stumbling hurriedly through the snow, clutching at what looked to be a broken tool. Gray felt his spirits sink when he realized that the brunet was most likely looking for his grandfather, but he pushed the feeling away. He was leaving in two weeks, so nothing should have mattered.

"It's Saibara's day off today," Gray said as Jack caught up to him. Jack grinned, puzzling Gray further.

"Oh, I know," he said, and then Gray decided that he was just plain confused. "I was wondering if _you_ could fix it for me."

Gray knew it was impolite, but he could do nothing beyond stare at the slightly shorter man. Jack's bright smile did not fade, even after a good thirty seconds of silence, and Gray hesitantly took a step back. No one had ever asked him to fix anything, most likely because of the fact that Saibara was his grandfather and had more experience in that sort of thing, and thus, was more trustworthy. Gray had never before run into this situation where someone had sought him out to actually do anything useful with whatever blacksmithing skills that he had. He really had no idea what to do.

Jack was still smiling at him though, and still holding the tool to his chest. Gray hesitantly took the tool and inspected it. The tool was an old, broken up hammer, where the handle had come apart and the actual head of the hammer had worn away and was chipping in places. Gray figured that the tool would be better off upgraded rather than fixed, but Jack did not seem to be offering him any ore to work with.

"You'll do it for me?" Jack asked, still brightly happy for a reason beyond Gray's comprehension. It was cold outside, it was snowing, the snow on the ground was not melting any time soon, and his tool was broken, but that_ smile_ was still stubbornly frozen on his face. So Gray nodded.

"Well... sure."

"Oh my Goddess, thank you!" Jack exclaimed. "I don't know what I would do without you, Gray. When it's done, do you want to go have a few drinks with me or something, as thanks?" Gray couldn't help himself. He had to ask.

"Why don't you just wait until my grandfather opens up shop again?" Jack was still brightly happy as he answered.

"Well, because I thought that maybe you might want to do me the favor?" he explained, but it came out sounding more like a question than anything else. "Besides, your grandfather is kind of old, and he doesn't repair tools for me. He'd want to upgrade it, and that's a lot of money for something I don't really need. I think you'd get it done faster anyway."

Gray inspected the tool again, wondering where Jack had gotten the impression from. In all of his years living in Mineral Town, Gray had done not one lick of work for anyone other than Saibara, and even then, the old man was rarely happy with the work that he was getting back. Jack had been living on the farm for only a mere five years. He couldn't have gotten that impression. Still, the promise of work and even paid drinks afterwards _was_ appealing... With a sigh, Gray nodded again.

"I guess I could have this fixed for you before six tonight. It's not a big job. Kind of easy, actually..." Jack's grin threatened to split his face into two halves.

"Thanks a bunch, Gray. I'll come by Saibara's then, to pick the thing up, and then we can go out for drinks at the Inn, is that cool?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Fantastic. See you later!"

And then Jack was gone, just as quickly as he'd caught up to him. Gray stared after him for a moment, deep in thought. During the whole of the conversation, not once had Gray felt that Jack was forcing himself to talk to him. Jack had been perfectly pleasant about the whole thing, and he'd even offered drinks. It occurred to Gray that only Mary had ever invited to spend any type of quality time with him before she'd met Makoto, and this fresh excitement that Jack was exuding was, admittedly, very contagious. Without really meaning to, Gray was looking forward to tonight. It had the promise of being fun.

It then occurred to him that Jack had made the distinction between Saibara's house and the Inn where Gray himself stayed every night of the year. Not many, outside of Ann's family, knew that Gray was essentially homeless and lived at the Inn. The valley assumed that he lived with his grandfather, but Jack had obviously paid enough attention to have realized that this was not the case. Gray felt touched, and he found himself gripping the hammer a little tighter.

And then he shook his head to clear his thoughts and refocus on what had to be done. Gray was leaving at the end of Winter, and even though Jack had found a spare moment to ask a job of him did not mean that Gray could slack off in what he needed to do. One night of relaxation, of course, wouldn't hurt him in the long run, but after this night out with the farmer, Gray decided, he would forget everything Mineral Town related and start searching for a home in the city, which was where he planned to end up after all of this, after all.

So with his heart only feeling a small bit heavy, Gray turned and commenced the walk down to Saibara's Blacksmith, where he would work on Jack's tool so he would have enough time between now (about noon) and six to get ready. Drinking with a farmer.

What fun.

xXxXxXx

Jack was always one to be on time for most events in his life. He remembered the time where, in Elementary School, he would chronically be late because of his mother's lack of a solid attention span in the morning, so he'd vowed that he would try as hard as possible to not be late for anything, no matter how small it may have seemed.

That is the reasoning that guided Jack, dressed in clean clothing, to knock on the door to the closed Blacksmith at six o'clock and wait for the answer. He had half expected Saibara's own stubborn gruff voice to assault him the moment he knocked, but instead, Gray calmly opened the door to greet him. Jack gaped for a moment, for Gray was not wearing a shirt, nor shoes, and Jack could see that the blonde man that no one really knew had what he would have liked to call abs of steel, but wouldn't because that sounded awkward, even to him. Gray's toned chest was filled with minor injuries and some scars, most of which Jack assumed was from his training to be a blacksmith ever since he was young, but he also had a towel hung in his back pocket and he was looking at him strangely, as if he'd forgotten momentarily why Jack was even there at all.

"Hello, Gray." Jack said, still trying to kick his mind into high gear despite the gorgeous, half naked man in front of him. "Did you finish my hammer? Can we go out now?"

Slowly did Gray's look of incomprehension fade from his face, and blue eyes lit up. Hurriedly, Gray wiped his forehead with the towel and he smiled.

"Yah, your hammer is finished. I might have gone a little overboard in fixing it, though, I hope you don't mind." Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Overboard in fixing the hammer?" he asked. "What do you mean?" Gray shrugged, but the happy aura that Jack had never seen on the man didn't disappear as he answered.

"Well, I kinda made one from scratch instead of fixing your old one. It's also got my name on it, but it's small I promise." Jack smiled.

"That's fine, as long as it works." Gray looked nervous for a second, and Jack scoffed. "Oh come on Gray, you know your work will be fine. I wouldn't have asked if I'd had doubts about the work you could do!" Gray looked at him strangely again.

"No one has ever seen me do work."

"Well you didn't just spend five or more years living here under your grandfather and not learn a single thing," Jack said, rolling his eyes. "I mean, come on. You're not stupid. Five years of nothing? Jeez..." Gray snorted.

"I guess you're right," the blond man said. He shook his head, and for the first time, Jack noticed that Gray's hat wasn't on his head, letting the blond strands of hair loose. "Come inside. I'll get dressed and then we'll go."

The nice thing about living in Mineral Town was that nothing was really far away from anything. It didn't take long for Gray to wash up and change into some nice jeans and a dark blue shirt. A white coat went over that, and then they were off. The walk was predictably silent, considering neither of them were the best of friends. When they did get to the Inn, Doug greeted them a little hesitantly, but Jack smiled and waved. Even though he wasn't often in the bar at this time of night, Jack was a man in his twenties and, like every other man on in the Village, could use a drink every once in a while. Gray was looking at him pensively. Jack lowered his arm.

"What's wrong, Gray?" Jack asked, and Gray shrugged.

"Why're you always so... happy?" Jack smiled at the blacksmith and chose a seat at an unoccupied table.

"You know what?" he said. "A few years ago, I would have asked myself the same thing. Farming is hard work, I'm always busy, always getting hurt in one way or another, the girl that I had a crush on got married, and living alone sucks and is expensive, but..." Jack took a breath, noticing the way Gray was looking at him intently. "Mineral Town is a beautiful community. The people are nice, I have friends here, and there is too much energy wasted in being upset when you could so much more easily be happy about simple things, right?"

Gray looked confused for a moment, and then he shrugged, propping both elbows on the table in a display of terrible manners and then letting one arm fall, using the other hand to prop his head up. Jack smiled as Gray spoke.

"The girl you liked?" he asked. "I never thought that you would like a girl here. Didn't you come from the city?" Jack snorted.

"Dude, so did you," he said, and they both laughed, knowing that they were the only two in the town to use the word besides Kai. "But yah, Ann."

"Ann?"

"Ann," Jack repeated. "I'd liked her from the very first Winter I was here, and then I made really good friends with Cliff." He paused to finally order some wine from Doug. "Cliff just... got to her first, and I learned to live with it. I wanted her to be happy, ultimately, so I let her go. Besides, she's still around."

"But doesn't it upset you, especially now that she has a kid?" Gray asked, and Jack shook his head with a smile.

"Naw," he said. "It hasn't upset me since they started dating. She's happy, Cliff's happy, and I'm happy."

Jack knew, simply by looking at the expression on Gray's face, that Gray was thinking of Mary. They were, after all, in the same situation, except Jack was handling it differently. Jack sipped at his wine, and then decided that they would definitely need something stronger than that, with the way conversation was headed. Doug, seeing the look, brought them over some strange purple concoction that Jack didn't even want to know the components of. He finished his wine and then started on the fruity tasting drink.

"You make very little sense." Gray said finally, and Jack snorted. "First, your love interest marries another man, they have a child, you basically admitted to being lonely, you asked _me_, of all people, to help you with your tool, but you're still happy?"

"Confusing people used to be a talent of mine, if I'm to believe my mother," Jack said, still smiling, and Gray laughed again. Jack loved that laugh. "But enough about me, let's drink."

Conversation flowed surprisingly easily after that. Gray told him about what he could remember from the city, and Jack told him about going to school in the city and getting into all sorts of trouble. They spoke briefly of Mary's Library, and about Ann and her baby boy that she'd named Blue, as well as some of the chores and stories from living on the farm. By the time that the night was over, Jack was feeling pleasantly fuzzy, and Gray was supporting him, both of them unsteady as they made their way back to Natsume Farm. They slipped in the snow multiple times, both miraculously not falling over, and when they got to the front door of the only house on the farm, Jack collapsed against the door in giggles.

"Whooo, it's been a while since I've done this much drinking!" he managed before he lay on the ground, preferring to let the world spin from there. Gray, definitely the more sober of the two, knelt down beside him.

"Are you okay, Jack?"

"I'll be fine if you stay!" Jack giggled before he rolled over, calling for his dogs. When they didn't respond, he huffed and pushed himself up and found himself almost nose to nose with Gray. He flushed, despite his immediate command not to. Gray stood and then helped him up.

"Give me your keys, Jack, I'll get you inside."

"You're so nice to me, Gray..." Jack said, and then he grinned. "It would be cool if we were really good friends."

As he fumbled with his keys, Jack watched Gray out of the corner of his eyes. Gray was looking at the ground, in thought, so Jack found his keys and jingled them in front of nearly vacant blue eyes. Gray blinked and took them from him. A moment later, the door was opened and they both stepped into the inky darkness.

"You've never been here, have you?" Jack remarked, turning on the lights. He immediately hissed from the sudden clarity, but he stumbled away from the doorway and landed in a heap in front of the television. He looked around. "It's not much..."

"You live here by yourself?" Gray asked as he wandered to the kitchen. Jack knew the refrigerator was always well stocked with vegetables of every kind, so he wasn't worried when he heard Gray inspect it. "Isn't it a lot of work with a house that's this big?"

"Naw," Jack said, and he motioned towards the only other wall with a door to it. "That's my bedroom. Nice fireplace and double bed in there. And a desk, I dunno why. And a bookshelf."

"And it's calling for a Jack to go to bed," Gray said, and Jack imagined that he was smiling. "Come on, it's late and you have to get up early if you want to do all your chores you were telling me about."

"'s Winter, Gray," Jack said, even as he lifted himself off of the floor and managed a surprisingly steady walk to his bedroom door. "Nothing to do in Winter except for take care of the animals. It's not much."

"You still need sleep," Gray insisted. "So I'll go. Thank you for paying for drinks tonight, Jack."

"Thanks for coming with me Gray," Jack said. "I enjoyed myself. Maybe we can do this again sometime?" Gray nodded.

"Sure, no problem." A smile crawled its way onto Gray's face. "I had fun too. Goodnight, Jack."

"Goodnight, Gray."

Seconds later, Jack was falling into bed and the front door was closing. All the lights were still on, but Jack didn't care as he fell into a dream filled with images of the man that he'd been with all night long. Drinking with Gray _had_ been fun, and he hoped that Gray made good on his promise to do it again before he left, or Jack would be very, _very_ upset.

xXxXxXx

Gray was surprised when he woke up the next morning and he didn't have any sort of a headache at all. He was even more surprised to find out that he remembered most of the events that had happened that night, but one moment, one phrase stuck out in his mind more clearly than the others. Jack had been drunk when he'd said it, obviously, but that didn't stop Gray from wondering what he'd meant by it.

"_I'll be fine if you stay!_"

That one statement was what plagued Gray throughout the rest of the day. He didn't know if Jack had wanted him to stay over, or if he'd wanted him to stay in the village. There was no reason that Jack had needed him to stay at all last night, and Gray was pretty sure that he'd never once mentioned to the farmer his intentions to move back to the city, so Jack didn't know about that, but that statement... There was just something about it that bothered him to no end.

Gray was also bothered by the fact that he'd accidentally made a friend, even though he _knew_ that he wasn't going to be around forever. He did consider Jack a friend now. How could he not? Jack had been funny and compassionate and amusing all at the same time, in a way that was different than the way he'd considered himself to be Mary's friend. There was something different about the farmer. He was a determined young man, that was for sure, and he also was mature beyond what Gray thought their maturity level should be. At twenty-three, they were still supposed to be drinking and having parties and engaging in weird sexual relations, but Jack had mentioned doing none of these. It was a little strange.

It was also strange how, the next day, Gray did not see or hear of Jack until about three, when he walked into Saibara's with a smile, carrying what Gray was pretty sure was mystrile ore. Gray stopped his staring into the fire to turn and stare instead at Jack.

"Hello Saibara," he greeted. "Gray." Saibara looked up from the counter that he always leaned on and raised an eyebrow.

"Hello Jack," he said. "What's that you got there?"

"Oh, this?" Jack asked, holding up the blue ore. "This is mystrile ore. It's Gray's birthday, isn't it?"

Gray raised an eyebrow, wondering how, exactly, Jack had come across this information. Nobody except for Mary had ever celebrated his birthday before, so this was kind of a surprise. Jack's eternal smile was, as always, plastered onto his face.

"Yah," Saibara said. "Is that for him?"

"From Mary," Jack said. "She called me, like she does every month, and told me that she wanted to give this to Gray, but couldn't because her little girl was sick and she had to stay home."

Gray took the offered ore and turned it over in his hands, smiling without meaning to. Even after all this time, Mary was still thinking of him. For a moment, he regretted his wish to move to the city, but it was gone again a second later when he figured that Mary would be much too busy raising her child in the next few years to come visit him in Mineral Town, except for on holidays.

A sudden heavenly smell broke through Gray's musings and he looked up again, confused. Jack was carefully pulling out a white and pink box from his seemingly bottomless bag that he always carried with him. It was quite obviously a birthday present, and Gray looked at it strangely.

"Is that also for him?" Saibara said, now sounding quite annoyed that there was no business going on in his shop during working hours. Jack's smile changed slightly, but somehow seemed a little softer.

Fonder.

"Yah, this is for him too," Jack said, and Gray took the box. "I was quite surprised when Mary told me it was your birthday, so I rushed home and I wanted to make you something, but I don't even think it's very good, and I don't know if you like it, but there was extra and I figured 'why not?', but it took me forever--"

Gray's gasp cut Jack off mid ramble. It was not well known, but Gray's favorite food on the planet was Baked Corn. There was just something about it that Gray enjoyed every time he ate it that he didn't quite want to understand. He'd always just eaten Kai's when Cliff dragged him out of the Inn to go talk to the city boy, and it was fantastic. Sitting in the bottom of the box, carefully placed in a plate and wrapped with obvious care was this food, and it smelled delicious.

Gray found himself very oddly feeling like he wanted to give Jack a hug for the simple gesture. The man looked peculiar, standing there obviously nervous about his reaction to what must have taken a while to make. Jack was looking down and fidgeting, and if Gray looked hard enough, there were also the beginnings of a blush forming on Jack's cheeks, browned from being in the sun every day of the year. Gray was touched, and he smiled.

"Wow, Jack, I love baked corn!" he said. "How did you know?"

"I didn't, honest!" Jack said, and he began gesticulating as he spoke. "When Mary called me, I panicked about your birthday, because you're my friend and I wanted to get you something, but I didn't know what, so I talked to Ann, and Cliff overheard us talking about it, and he mentioned that you always had the baked corn at Kai's Seaside Shack. So we called Kai and asked him how to make it, but it took some convincing, and I swear I failed about three times before this came out, so I don't even know if it's good or not."

Gray couldn't help but smile wider and even laugh a little at the explanation. Just the idea of the usually prepared Jack panicking about something as simple as his 24th birthday was enough for the reaction. Gray knew that he was becoming very fond of Jack, and that was worrisome because he had to move soon. In less than twenty days, actually, he had to find a home and move out to start his new life in the city.

The thought made the smile drop off of his face. Jack caught the look.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and Gray looked up at him. "You look upset."

"It's nothing," Gray answered immediately, and Jack frowned at him, but seemed to accept the answer when Gray said no more.

"Well, whatever then. If you need me, you know where to find me." Jack made a small movement that seemed so natural to his shoulder to hitch his bag back into the proper position. "If you ever need me for anything, you know where to find me. I'm going now; I promised Ann I'd look after Blue for a little while before five so that I can meet Zack at my place."

"Thanks again for the gift," Gray said, and he smiled again at the thought of the baked corn waiting for him to eat it. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem, Gray! See you later!"

Jack breezed out of the shop. Silenced reigned for a good few hours after that, neither grandfather, nor grandson saying a word to the other. Gray worked patiently on turning his ore into something useful, drawing ideas for statues and better tool designs on paper for the most of the time spent in silence. Finally, at around six, Saibara looked up from his work and stared. Gray, immediately unnerved by the sudden halt in blacksmith work, looked up at his grandfather and his mood dropped when he saw the look on the older man's face. It was impossible to describe, but Gray saw in those old blue eyes a confusion and a quiet fury that he'd never seen in them before.

"Gray, I tolerate a lot from you, and I have ever since you were little and living here," Saibara said calmly. "But today was the last straw. You're twenty-four, now, you should be able to live by yourself and not rely on others."

Gray didn't bother to point out that he was essentially living on his own in Doug's Inn.

"What is Jack to you?"

The question caught Gray by surprise. Jack had never before been anything more than a friend, and recently a confidant. He hadn't had the time to talk to Jack that much, save the rare occasions that they crossed paths and said hello, or at Festivals that they both attended. Today, Gray had to admit that the feelings that he had for Jack went a little beyond friendship, maybe into the waters of best friend, surpassing what Mary had been to him, but Gray wasn't worried about it. So what if he had made a friend, finally, and by accident. It wasn't going to harm anybody.

"He's my friend, Grandpa," Gray said slowly, and Saibara's sarcastic laugh stopped any further speech that would have come.

"I saw the way you two were looking at each other!" the old man said. "It's in the same way you used to admire Mary!"

"What way?" Gray asked, now very confused; he hadn't been aware that he'd looked at Mary in any type of way at all.

"You want him like you wanted Mary," Saibara said simply, and Gray was horrified.

"I do not!" he said. "I'm not gay! Jack is just a _friend_!"

The silence that followed Gray's statement this time crackled with anger and intolerance, and Gray didn't know what to do about it. He knew that his grandfather was intolerant of a lot of things, and being gay was one of those things. Gray didn't know what his grandfather had seen today in their conversation, but Gray was not_ gay_. He'd loved Mary, once. He'd never even thought of having a guy touch him or love him. So he stared Saibara down, just as angry as the old man.

"You need to leave, Gray," Saibara finally said. "I've had enough of you taking advantage of my hospitality. I will not tolerate you being gay and in this house."

"I'm _not --"_

"I don't care if you see it or not, but you're falling for the farmer and I won't have that here! Take your ways elsewhere!"

"But -- "

"GET OUT!"

Silence fell again, and with it fell Gray's spirits. His plans for moving out seemed to crash down in front of his eyes as Saibara returned to furiously working. Staying with his grandfather to make a little allowance money on the side for chores had been an essential part of his plan to move out. Without his allowance money that he'd been building up, he couldn't pay for a room at the Inn for the rest of the month, for food, for transportation into the city and for a new home. It was impossible. Food and lodging alone were expenses that he couldn't do without, but weren't cheap either.

Saibara had basically just trapped him in Mineral Town for good.

He wouldn't argue, though. Slowly, he gathered his things that were always just in his bag, picked up the bag, his ore from Mary and the half eaten baked corn that Jack had given him before that he'd promised himself he'd save for the entire day. Just as slowly, Gray stepped out of the Blacksmith Shop and closed the door gently behind him, deliberately leaving the key to the shop on the other side. Sure enough, seconds after the door shut, Gray heard the click of the lock from the other side, cementing the fact that he'd just been thrown out of what had been his workplace for many years. He sighed, looking around. It was cold, and he really had nowhere to go. From his standing point he could see the lights on in the Poultry Farm, and in Yodel Ranch, and he could hear May's squeals of delight as she was chased around by the big brown dog that lived there. Distantly, he heard Barley call for his granddaughter to come inside from the cold. With a giggle, the little girl, in her red jacket and pink scarf, obeyed, pausing only to wave at Gray from over the fence before she darted inside, laughing.

Gray swiftly turned down that road and stalked past Yodel Ranch, upset and jealous of May. The little girl was obviously well cared for by the old owner of the Ranch, and didn't seem to be a burden to anyone. Gray wished that his grandfather had been remotely like Barley. Gray was willing to bet that, if May had told _him_ that she was different, that Barley wouldn't have cared in the slightest.

Gray wiped at his eyes furiously, only half surprised at the tears, but not wanting them there at all. He was twenty four. He was a grown man. He was _not_ going to cry about this. He would get through this alone.

Like always.

xXxXxXx

"Blue, please don't run away from me."

"No!"

"Oh, for goodness sake... BLUE!"

"NO!"

"Don't touch the billboard, Blue."

"Nooo!"

"Is that the only word you know?"

"No!"

"You little liar, wait up!"

Jack was secretly exhausted. Blue was almost a year old, and had started walking and talking. Only a few words, but he was learning very quickly. His favorite word was apparently 'no', but that didn't stop Jack from loving the little ball of energy. When he grew older, Jack promised himself that he'd teach the tyke to farm. He would like it.

"Ja'!"

Jack easily scooped up the suddenly spooked little boy and looked forward. Sitting, obviously brooding, on a bench in Mineral Town Square was Gray. He looked like he'd been there for a while as snow had piled on top of his hat, lightly covering the 'UMA' logo. Jack was immediately worried for the blacksmith, remembering the time where he'd found Cliff in Mineral Town Square, passed out in the snow in almost the same state. Cliff had almost died. He wasn't going to let the same happen to Gray.

Slowly, Jack approached the blond man and knelt in front of him, ignoring Blue's whimpers of fright. Blue eyes were staring vacantly at a spot to his left, and after checking that there was nothing there to look at, Jack carefully took Gray's chin into his free hand and turned those eyes to stare into his own. The indescribable expression of depression and loneliness made Jack's heart ache, and seemed to even have an effect on Blue, for the little boy stopped whimpering and hesitantly reached out for Gray.

"Gray, what happened?"

The words didn't seem to have an effect on the man more than making him blink. Blue, fed up of being ignored when he just wanted to help, squirmed his way out of Jack's arms to climb up into Gray's lap and give the man a hug. That had more of an effect, making Gray jump at suddenly having the little boy in his personal space. His eyes seemed to come back into focus.

"Jack?" Gray said slowly. "What are you doing here?"

"I was on my way to take this one home," Jack said, gesturing to Blue, who was still hugging Gray. Gray slowly hugged the little one back. "Blue found you. What's wrong, Gray? What's happened?"

"Sad?" Blue asked softly, raising his brown eyes to lock with Gray's. Gray sighed.

"My grandfather kicked me out of the house," he said slowly, and Jack's eyes widened in disbelief. "I don't have any other income, so I don't know how I'll go on living at the Inn if I can't pay..."

Jack frowned. It was like Cliff's initial situation five years ago when Jack had first come to live in the village. Cliff had had no income and had been living off of his savings for all that time. Jack remembered having wanted to help the brunet, but he'd been unable to think of any suitable way. If Duke and Manna hadn't offered him that job at the Aja winery and told him to bring a friend, Cliff would have left the village a long time ago, Ann wouldn't have gotten married and Blue wouldn't have been born, and Jack loved Blue like an uncle loved his nephew. Jack hated seeing people he liked go through this, but he was puzzled about what to do in this case; there was not another winery for Gray to conveniently work at during all seasons.

With that somewhat sarcastic thought, Jack was struck by an idea. He'd just recently complained about his lack of company at his place, and there was more than enough room and food for Gray to stay. Even if Gray wanted to work and to make his own income, Jack was wealthy enough by now that losing a little bit of funds to Gray wouldn't be a problem, if Gray was willing to do the work. There was no reason that the man couldn't. Comforted by this window of opportunity, Jack smiled at Gray. Gray didn't seem so pleased.

"What's got you smiling _again_?" the man asked almost snidely, and Jack wasn't fazed.

"You don't have to worry about not having anywhere to stay, Gray. You can stay with me if you like."

Gray looked at him silently for about a minute, in which Blue easily stole his hat and placed it on his own head, giggling when it didn't fit right on him. Jack continued to stare Gray back in the eyes, refusing to back down what had become a battle of wits. Slowly, Gray began to smile, if as though he'd found a solution to all of his problems and his plans were slowly beginning to piece themselves back together. Almost hesitantly, Gray nodded.

"I'd like that, Jack, I really would. Thank you."

"No problem," Jack responded. "Now, let's just take Blue back home and --" Blue was immediately horrified by this idea and he protested just as soon as he could, in an equally horrified voice.

"No!"

Jack was unprepared for Gray to start laughing, slowly at first, but then outright laughing at him. He was taken aback that Gray would laugh so fully at Blue's protest to go home, but it warmed his heart to see Gray laughing again; it was a change from the heartbreaking sadness that had cloaked Gray only moments ago. Jack smiled too, and then scooped Blue up into his arms, pulling Gray with him.

"You know what, Blue?" Jack said to the small infant who was stubbornly still wearing Gray's hat. Small hands clutched at it to make sure it stayed on his head. "You don't have a choice anymore. Mommy wanted you home an hour ago anyway."

Blue stuck his tongue out at him, and Jack rolled his eyes as they began their walk, Gray following behind slowly. The two argued the whole way to the Inn, and Gray said not a word, but had Jack turned to look at him, he would have been pleased to see the smile that was present on his friend. When finally they had gotten Gray's hat back and had given Blue back to Ann and Cliff for the night, and the door to the Inn closed on them, Jack looked over to Gray and began to smile. It froze halfway there when, suddenly, Jack realized just exactly what he'd gotten himself into.

Jack would be _living_ with Gray for who knew how long. Jack was _attracted_ to Gray, and had been since he could remember. They would be living _alone_ together.

That was a very, very bad combination of facts.

xXxXxXx

Gray liked Jack's place. It was very open and warm, and the fridge was stocked up nicely with fresh vegetables. The dining table was right in front of the television, and the television played only four channels, but Gray didn't mind because they only watched the Variety Channel anyway for My Dear Princess, Dueling Chefs and Mechabot Ultralor. The bedroom held the double bed like Jack had mentioned just two days ago, but also a single bed that looked worn and very well loved. The interior design would have been nice, had Jack had a wife, but Jack had explained with a smile that he was just too lazy to change it, so the pink stayed. There was also a fireplace in the bedroom and a grandfather clock and a cabinet out in the living space, dividing the living space from the kitchen. Gray really enjoyed having the freedom to go wherever he pleased on the farm as well, which had a large kitchen coop and an equally sized barn, which Gray thought strange, but Jack explained away as he only needed the space because he had seven cows and three sheep, and he really didn't need more than that. There was a greenhouse not far from the home building, populated with several Pineapple plants that looked surprisingly healthy, despite their being inside. There was also a stable with a single horse that had been sleeping inside that Jack had called Thunder, and the two dogs that had been energetically playing were Koro and Kara. Koro was a bigger golden colored dog, and Kara was the milk chocolate colored puppy. Jack had explained, with a fond smile, that Koro had run off to have puppies with Yodel Ranch's Hannah, and that May, Stu and Pastor Carter had the others.

Natsume farm, despite Gray's initial impression about a week ago when he'd finally decided to leave, was a lovely place that he didn't think Mineral Town could do without. During the tour of the farm, Gray had realized that it was Jack that provided a lot of places with the materials they needed to run efficiently. Doug's in could not do without Jack's fresh produce, and the Supermarket relied on Jack to buy their seeds to keep themselves growing. Everyone who drank milk in the valley most likely got that from the Supermarket, and they most likely got their milk from Jack all the time. The wool that was produced by the sheep most likely went to Ellen, Elli's grandmother, who then produced clothing and things in her spare time, and the city most likely benefited from it later on. Jack was essential to a lot of people, and that thought made Gray wish that he could be as productive as Jack sometime in the future.

Gray was woken up the next morning by the smell of breakfast cooking at six o'clock. He'd been given the single bed to sleep on, and it smelled almost overwhelmingly of Jack, leading Gray to believe that this was where Jack had slept before getting his house expanded. Blearily, Gray dragged himself out of bed, appreciative of the fire that was going to keep the house warm, and he opened the bedroom door. Jack was already bathed and dressed for the day, making what Gray was pretty sure were pancakes. Jack smiled warmly as Gray wandered in.

"Good morning, Gray!" the man said happily. "Breakfast is almost ready, and then I'm going to go and do my chores as quickly as possibly. Feel free to tag along if you want. I've never had help before, come to think of it."

Gray slipped into one of the chairs at the table and grumbled something that not even he could make out, but he believed that it was along the lines of 'okay'. Moments later, a plate of steaming pancakes topped with syrup was placed in front of him on the table, along with a fork and knife. They ate their meal in semi-silence, for Jack quickly outlined his list of chores for the day. Gray was interested in the part where they were going to go mining, for he'd never been before, and that way he could get the ore for himself and make some sort of income, if Jack would let him. He didn't mention this, though, not even as they finished breakfast, nor as Gray bathed and got ready to brave the cold. He didn't bring it up as Jack lead him to the chicken coop, but as they stepped inside and Gray was assaulted by at least eight excited chickens, Gray wasn't sure that he could pull off being a farmer for long enough to mention anything. Jack was laughing at him and pulling the curious chickens away from him affectionately.

"Wow, if I had known they'd take an immediate liking to you like that, I would have warned you about them!" Jack said as the chickens began clucking at his heels. "I'm sorry, Gray. Do you still think you want to help?" Gray sat up and nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "They just took me by surprise. I'll be fine. What do you want me to do?"

The day progressed very much like that. Every time it came to a different chore, Gray would ask how to do what was required, and Jack would teach him patiently. Milking the cows was an experience that he didn't think that he would ever get used to, but he did three of the seven cows before he got used to it. Jack had given him the milker to use, and then he'd milked the other cows by hand as Gray struggled. Jack had also helped him shear the sheep, guiding his hand carefully as they used the clippers, as to not hurt the sensitive animals. Gray had also learned how to properly care for the multiple pineapple plants that were in the greenhouse, and then they'd each taken a hammer – Jack was using one that Saibara had upgraded and Gray the one that he'd made just recently – and they'd gone up into the mines to dig around for the elusive ore that they were searching for. Hours later, they were both exhausted, but they had a basket full and Gray's arm capacity full of ore that they were planning to sell. Gray helped Jack place their day's toils into the shipping bin back on Natsume farm, and then they sat side by side near the river that ran through the farm, Jack with his fishing rod held gently between both hands, watching the line carefully. This was their relaxation time, apparently. Gray huffed and flopped back into the snow.

"Wow, you do all of that by yourself every day of the year?" Jack laughed and rolled his shoulders.

"Yep. It's much more hectic during the Spring, when stuff is growing outside again. You get used to running everywhere, taking shortcuts, and doing things very, very quickly."

"And you've never had help?" Gray inquired, and Jack shrugged.

"The Harvest Sprites help out on festival days, so that I can go and enjoy the festivals with the other villagers. They insist, actually, it's quite scary." Jack laughed at that before he continued. "But other than that, I do it all myself."

They fell silent again, each one thinking their own thoughts. When five o'clock rolled around, and Zack called out to them, they left the riverside and went to see him. Jack easily thanked Zack for the money, and as Zack was leaving, Jack turned to Gray and smiled, holding out his hand. Gray looked at him in confusion before he realized what Jack was doing.

"You're... paying me?" he asked, and Jack nodded, placing the money in his hands. "Why?"

"You did half the work, remember?" Jack said easily. "There should be about 700 G there, half of what we did today. I'm not sure if that's what your Grandfather used to give you as allowance or anything, but it's half, so yah."

Gray had to smile as he pocketed the money, for Jack looked exactly like he did when he'd given him the Baked Corn: flustered and embarrassed. The light red stain of blush had spread quickly across his cheeks, in a different way that was from the cold. This time, Gray did give into temptation and pulled Jack into his arms, giving him a hug. Jack was helping him out more than he knew, and Gray really appreciated it.

Gray was sort of surprised that Jack easily hugged him back, but the hug was over before he could really analyze anything of it. Jack seemed unfazed by the sudden gesture and easily picked his fishing rod back up, shook off the snow and then his grin was back on his face.

"Come on, Gray. We're catching our supper tonight. Do you like Sushi?" Gray could only shrug, still thinking back on what the hug meant. "Well, we'll find out. Let's fish!"

Gray didn't say much for the rest of the night beyond thanking Jack for letting him stay and for making their supper (which had been really good, despite Gray's initial apprehension about eating Sushi). He'd been thinking all night about the hug, and what it possibly could have meant. He'd been thankful to people before, but his feeling grateful towards those people had never inspired him to _hug_ them, of all things. When he finally slipped into bed that night, it was with a heavy sigh; maybe he was attracted to Jack like he'd been attracted to Mary.

Which posed a problem, really. If he was developing a crush on Jack – which was like a slap in the face, realizing that his grandfather had been right all along – it would be harder for Gray to leave, especially if it was his choice to be staying. He wasn't entirely sure what he was feeling towards Jack, but he could feel that it was the beginnings of a crush, and that alone made Gray want to stick around a little longer, just to see what would come of it. His crush on Mary had had absolutely no hope of ever blossoming in the future because of Makoto and now her daughter, but with Jack, it was open-ended. It could go in any direction.

It brought up a small series of questions. Was Jack gay? If so, why had anyone not _noticed_ anything, and when had he found out that he was? Was Jack interested in him like that, or were they destined to forever be just friends? Could they survive together long enough to eventually maybe call it love?

And, most importantly, when had Gray become gay, and _why_?

Gray groaned and rolled over in his bed. It was going to be a long, _long_ night.

xXxXxXx

The days went on like this for almost two weeks straight. Every day they would get up, eat, bathe, dress, and then go about the farm working on getting all of the chores done. Every five days after one harvesting, they had to work together to harvest the pineapple plants, which brought in a ridiculous amount of money that they continued to split between them. The fourteenth of Winter broke their schedule a small bit, for it was the Winter Thanksgiving, and almost every girl in the village stopped by to give Jack some chocolate (Ann baked him a cake), and Ann also gave Gray chocolate cookies, with the instructions to the men to share it. The goodies were gone in two days, but otherwise, their days were the same.

By the end of this two week period, Gray was able to perform all of the chores on his own effectively, but not as quickly yet as Jack could, meaning they could split up to get the chores done even faster. Every day they both went into the mines together, and had light, airy conversation as they dug up the precious jewels in the Winter Mine, named so because it was only accessible during the winter. Jack stocked up on a lot of the jewels and the really rare ore found in the mine for later use, and Gray began doing the same, intent on doing something with them eventually. Every night they would sit in front of the television, blindly watching whatever shows were on. Gray found that, during their down times, he enjoyed just sitting with Jack more than he really watched TV.

On the twenty-second, however, the Weather Network forecasted their first blizzard of the year, and the two men spent the day preparing for it. Gray spent most of it adding reinforcement to the greenhouse so that it wouldn't collapse in the storm, and Jack spent his time going around his farm, cleaning up potentially dangerous rocks that could damage the house in the storm, and trying to convince both Koro and Kara that the inside of the house was a good thing. By the end of the day, all the chores were still done, and all that was left was to put Thunder the Horse inside of his stable. Gray was exhausted, but the greenhouse was secure, so when Jack called him over, Gray went without wondering what could have been going through the farmer's mind. Gray was only mildly surprised when Jack caught his gloved hand in his own and began pulling him towards the horse. Suddenly, Gray didn't like where this was going.

"You've been here all this time, and you've never even attempted to get near Thunder on your own," Jack said. "Thunder needs exercise before the storm so he stays healthy. Do you want to learn to ride?"

Gray looked up at the horse, and Thunder looked back down at him. Gray was understandably intimidated by the large animal, but Jack was still holding his hand and was still smiling that smile that just screamed, "Come on, it will be fun!". Hesitantly, Gray nodded, and Jack's smile widened.

"Fantastic! I'll help you, don't worry. Now, first things first, stop being afraid of the horse."

It took them about an hour, but Gray eventually learned how to mount the horse, and Jack began leading Thunder around the field with only a hand on the horse's neck. Gray had the reigns in hand and was just getting used to sitting high up there when Jack gave Thunder a little pat, and then they began the slowest trot that Gray had ever seen, but he was grateful, because Jack had let go of the horse and it was up to him to lead it around. He was having fun after the terrifying first twenty seconds, but Gray missed Jack's chatter as they walked along. After a little bit of fumbling, Gray turned the horse around and made it stop in front of the farmer. The sudden halt made Gray lose his balance atop the saddle and he slid right off. He expected to hit the ground, but instead he found himself being held up by Jack's arms, and when Gray opened his eyes, he found that their faces were only a scant few inches apart.

Time seemed to freeze in a way that Gray had never felt before. He locked eyes with Jack, and found that he couldn't quite read whatever message they were trying to send. Gray could see Jack's face heating up, but now he wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or nervousness at their close proximity. Curious, Gray leaned forwards only the smallest bit, his legs screaming in pain for they were all that were holding him on the saddle apart from Jack's arms, and he was only mildly surprised when Jack didn't move away. Gray could see Jack's eyelids slide almost closed, and Jack took a deep, steadying breath before he opened them again. When Jack spoke, it was in a whisper.

"What are you doing?" The tone was not accusatory, nor was it a sign to move away. The question was soft, and almost pleading, but Gray wasn't sure. He did know, however, that he wanted to kiss Jack in that moment, but he didn't know how to proceed, nor did he know how to answer Jack's question. He leaned even closer, and this time, Jack also tilted his head upwards, bringing their lips close enough so that when Gray spoke, their lips brushed lightly.

"I don't really know..."

Jack made a whining sound in the back of his throat, and then their lips were touching and they were kissing, and it was like nothing Gray had ever felt before. He barely contained a soft moan as they kissed lightly, and then more firmly. Gray let himself finally slide off of the horse, which toppled the both of them to the ground. The impact made them both gasp, and then they were looking at each other again before Gray kissed Jack again. Jack moaned softly, the sound quite obviously not restrained in the slightest. Their kisses became more firm, longer, and more passionate. The heat from the kiss crashed through Gray's body, and he could feel himself becoming uncomfortably hot. He shifted to try and relieve the feeling, and was surprised when a shock of pleasure coursed through his body. He couldn't help the moan that escaped him, but he did hear Jack's identical groan at the same time, and realization dawned on him. Gray sat up and scrambled up off of Jack hurriedly, not really knowing what to do. That had been his first kiss, and he certainly hadn't expected that to happen. Jack was still lying in the snow, and Gray felt a slow, rolling desire wash over him at the sight of Jack laying there, breathing heavily, but looking at him with a look that was clearly a threat of some sort if he didn't go back to kissing him right that instant. Gray backed away slowly, and then looked at the horse, and then up at the sky.

"It's supposed to storm soon," he said. "We should get Thunder inside." Jack sighed and sat up.

"You're right. We'll talk about this inside."

It didn't take long for them to ride Thunder into his stable, and while Jack worked on undressing the horse, Gray fled inside to the inside of the house and into his bed, hoping that Jack would just assume that he'd fallen asleep waiting for him. He didn't feel like talking about the kiss. It was obvious that Jack _wanted_ him, and he could live with that. He couldn't deal with the fact that, every day, and every moment that he was with Jack, Gray was falling a small bit more for the farmer. Jack was patient with him, and took the time out to show him the small things that were important to him and to the Mineral Town landscape. Gray had fallen in love with the nature part of Mineral Town, and knew that if he left, he would never again find a place with such meaning for him. He loved Mother's Hill, even though the village didn't hold much for him. Now, with his increasing attachment to Jack... Gray's plan for moving to the city was crumbling again in front of him, this time because he found himself not wanting to leave. If Jack only wanted him for pleasure, though, Gray would be forced to leave, because he wouldn't survive a one-sided relationship like that for long, but if he left, he would be leaving Mother's Hill and Natsume Farm and the wildlife that he'd come to love...

Gray screamed into his pillow in frustration, never hearing the door to the room open and close again as his scream went on. He was confused, annoyed, and in love, and he just wanted it all to _stop_.

xXxXxXx

Gray would not have noticed the approach of morning if not for Jack's alarm clock going off at the usual six o'clock, for if one were to look outside the window, they would be greeted with a seemingly perfect wall of snow. The wind howled loudly around the house, and the snow beat against the window, the storm a perfect dance of destruction that would ensure that everyone would be stuck inside for its duration, lest they be blown away. Gray groaned and rolled himself out of bed and wandered into the kitchen, surprised to see that Jack was not in the room, nor was he in the kitchen like he usually was at this time. Gray scanned the rest of the house from his position at the stove and his eyebrow rose in confusion when he saw Jack curled up on the ground with both of his dogs and a blanket in front of the television, fast asleep. Gray wandered over quietly, and both of the dogs looked up, but didn't leave their place beside their master. Gray kneeled down beside Jack's sleeping form and had to smile at the peaceful look on Jack's face as he slept. He reached out and softly brushed a lock of brown hair out of Jack's face, careful to not wake him. Koro nudged his hand and Kara whined, and Gray found himself petting both dogs as they all watched Jack sleep. Gray chuckled quietly.

"Koro, Kara," he whispered, and both dogs looked up at him. "I think I might love him."

Jack slept on through this, and eventually Gray felt bad for him, so he gently picked up the sleeping form and carried him into the bedroom and put Jack into the comfortable double bed. He struggled with getting Jack under the blankets, and starting a fire in the fireplace to keep the place warm before he went about making himself something to eat, and then cleaning the place. There was not much to do when it was too dangerous to go outside like this, so Gray sank in front of the television (that could not pick up a single station because of the storm) with a plate of French Toast, having nothing to do. His thoughts returned to the man sleeping in the other room, and he smiled sadly; he had found a tentative reason to stay in Mineral Town, but the last time he had decided he would stay for a person, that person had ended up leaving him behind, and he couldn't deal with that again. Jack was unlikely to leave because he had made a name and a life for himself in Mineral Town and on Natsume Farm in particular, but Gray didn't think he could live with being beside Jack for so long and not having his feelings returned. He sighed, and then he stood to clean the mess he had made. He fed the dogs and gave them water, and then he set about making Jack some breakfast; it wasn't healthy to stay in bed all day long. He remade his French Toast and made a glass of apple juice to go with it, and he carried that inside of the bedroom. He stood in the doorway to watch Jack sleep for a few more moments before he went inside and placed the plate and the glass down on the bedside table. He then placed a gentle hand on Jack's shoulder and shook lightly.

"Jack, wake up," Gray said softly, and Jack groaned. "Jack."

"Gr... Gray..." Gray raised an eyebrow at his name on sleeping lips, and he shook Jack a little harder. "Gray don't...! Don't leave..."

Gray sat back, shocked. Again, Jack not wanting him to leave? He hadn't mentioned his rapidly dissipating plan to leave the village at all to Jack, and he hadn't left after their confrontation yesterday, so why...? What had given Jack the idea that he was going to leave him? Why did he care?

"Jack, wake up," Gray said, still shaking his companion. "Now."

After a few more shakes, Jack woke with a start and looked around, slightly confused. When he spotted Gray, he went to smile, and then he registered the look on Gray's face and then looked really confused. He went to speak, but Gray spoke before him.

"What gives you the idea that I'm going to leave?" Gray could plainly see that Jack was even more confused now, so Gray elaborated. "You've asked me not to leave twice now, but I've never mentioned leaving to you at all since I've known you. What gives?"

Jack was silent, and Gray sat patiently, waiting for an answer. When it came, Gray was not expecting to hear what Jack said at all.

"Back in the beginning of Winter, Doug told me that you were going to leave at the end of the month and go back to the city. I'd been talking about you to him because it was your birthday soon and I was trying to find out what you liked, and he told me. I didn't want you to leave... so yah,"

Gray didn't know what to think. He couldn't decide if Jack was, at this point, only talking to him because he wanted him to stay in the village, or because of something else. He sat back against the headboard, and closed his eyes in thought, replaying the sentence in his mind. He frowned, eyes still closed, and he spoke.

"How did you know when my birthday was? You told me that Mary told you."

"She did... a few years ago when I asked and she was still in the village. Back then I was too shy to do anything about it, but I've always known that your birthday was Winter 6." Gray was silent. "I'm sorry for keeping that from you, Gray. I just... really wanted you to stay in the Village. I know it's ultimately your decision, so when your grandfather kicked you out, I knew that your plan to leave was destroyed, so when I paid you, I knew I was giving you the means to leave whenever you want, but I really didn't want you to, so when you kissed me yesterday, I was really happy because I thought that meant that you'd decided to stay with me, but I -- "

"Jack, you're rambling," Gray said slowly. He opened his eyes, and then looked at Jack. "Why did you want me to stay? Everybody else couldn't care less..."

Even as he said it, Gray knew the answer. Jack cared about him, and had all of these years. It made almost perfect sense to him, why Jack was so willing to do everything with him now, and why he had been one of the only ones to ever talk to him at every festival without fail, and why he knew when his birthday was all along, but was most likely too nervous to do anything about it. Jack had probably liked him intensely for more years than Gary had had the chance to like Mary in almost the same way. Jack had known that he'd been saving up all of these days to move away from him, and Jack hadn't been planning to stop him along the way, even though it was breaking his heart to see him go. He'd been willing to let him go, because Jack liked him.

"I want you to stay because I like you, Gray," Jack was saying softly, too late now that Gray had figured it out on his own. "I've liked you for years, but I never said anything about it."

Gray looked at Jack intently for a few tense seconds before he made up his mind. He pulled a surprised Jack into a hug and he kissed the top of his head fondly. Jack looked up at him, and Gray smiled at him.

"If I told you I wanted to stay, what would you say?"

"I'd be thrilled, and I'd probably say something like 'Will you stay with me?'." Gray laughed then, delighted.

"I want to stay, Jack," he said. "You've made me realize exactly what Mineral Town and Mother's Hill have to offer me." Jack looked at him confused for a moment.

"What have they offered?" Gray tilted Jack's chin up gently and leaned in, their lips almost touching.

"You."

Their kiss this time was sweet and less hurried than it had been yesterday, and this time, when the pleasure built within him and he felt himself become uncomfortably aroused, Gray didn't stop it or push away. Jack was kissing him back, and it felt fantastic. This time, after their heated kiss, Jack was the one to push away, but with a smile.

"Gray?"

"Yes?"

"Would you like to spend Starry Night Festival with me tomorrow?" Gray laughed and kissed him again.

"Of course, Jack," he said, pulling away. "I made you breakfast. I'll go check on the dogs and make sure they haven't destroyed anything while we were in here. If I come back and you're still in bed -- " Jack was already pulling breakfast towards him.

"I'll be out by then, don't worry. And then we'll clean the house and finally do something about this pink paint; I don't think either of us want to live with that for the rest of our lives."

Gray couldn't do anything other than smile at that before he swept out of the room. He was quite suddenly looking forward to tomorrow, for the Starry Night Festival was the city's equivalent of Christmas and Valentines Day together, and was therefore the most romantic festival in the year, barring the Fireworks Festival in the summer. He was excited for the first time in a long time, and he had Jack to thank for that. He couldn't even feel disappointed that his grandfather had kicked him out of the house, or that he'd been right in his assumptions, because now Gray was going to spend the rest of his days with Jack – provided nothing happened to drive them apart – and that was something that Gray wouldn't trade for the world.

There were just a few things before tomorrow night that he had to do, and he wasn't looking forward to it at all.

xXxXxXx

The next day was blissfully sunny, and both Jack and Gray worked hard to get their chores done in a timely fashion. The greenhouse had held up, and Gray was proud of himself for his reinforcement job that he'd done. He'd briefly entertained the idea of taking up carpentry under Gotz to learn the man's secrets, but he was quite happy being a blacksmith, so he put the idea aside for right then. When it was about noon, he wandered into the Inn, intent on using the phone. He was, of course, intercepted by Blue, and he spent a few moments playing with him and chatting to Cliff and Ann before he finally paid the 10 G to make the one phone call he was dreading. A woman answered the phone, and Gray sucked in a breath.

"Hello Mother."

The shriek of joy was loud enough to scare the wits out of Blue (who had decided that Gray's arms were nicer than Daddy's and had demanded to stay there) and cause Cliff and Ann to wonder what was going on. Gray's mother responded to him in total excitement. "Gray, honey! It's been forever! How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Gray said. "I have something to tell you, though." His mother was immediately suspicious.

"What's happened?"

"Grandpa kicked me out of the shop," Gray said, and pulled the phone away from his ear as his mother started her expected rant on how that man was good for nothing and stupid. When it seemed that she had descended into just angry muttering, he continued. "Don't worry, though. I'm staying with a friend."

"Is he your boyfriend?"

Gray's eyes widened in disbelief and he wondered how his mother had gone and figured that one out. He'd given no indication that he was living with a man, nor that he was romantically involved with anyone, so he wondered where his mother had gotten that idea.

"...How?"

"I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yes, but _how_ did you figure that one out?" His mother laughed.

"I'm your mother. Even though you haven't spoken to me all that much, I still kept in touch with your grandfather, and he mentioned this lovely sounding boy named Jack, and when you said you were living with a friend, I just figured that you'd finally gotten some sense and had gotten together with him."

Gray could say nothing for quite a while, and then he just shook his head and sighed.

"Fine, you're right. I just wanted to tell you that, so that you don't worry. I'll be staying with him. I'm working on the farm anyway, and I might talk to Gotz about teaching me about carpentry eventually." His mother sounded like she was smiling when she spoke next.

"Tell me when you finally decide to adopt a baby, okay honey?" Gray was shocked.

"What?"

"Your father and I love you, honey, and your brother says hi!"

"Why're you talking about -- "

"Bye honey! Keep in touch!"

The line went dead, and Gray hung up the phone slowly, shifting Blue on his hip. He looked at the toddler, who took his hat again, and then he smiled at him.

"Blue, when your mother goes insane like my mother did, just come and stay with Jack and me, okay?" On the other side of the Inn, Ann looked playfully insulted, and Cliff grinned at his wife. The brown haired child with the too large UMA hat on his head grinned at him and nodded.

" 'Kay!" he said happily, and Gray put him down, letting him scamper back over to his mother. He let his hat go with the little boy as well, figuring it was high time to let go of it. He'd had it for so many years, but it was a new beginning now, and if Blue wanted it, Gray would let him have it.

"Thank you guys for letting me use the phone," he said as he went to step out of the Inn. Ann gave him a hug.

"You're very welcome, Gray," she said. "You're always welcome here, you know, if Jack ever goes insane and _you_ need a place to stay." They laughed, and Cliff also gave him a hug.

"You guys stay safe, okay?" he said, and Gray nodded. "And come and visit; I think Blue has found a favorite pair of uncles." Gray nodded and hugged the man back.

"We will, I promise," he said, and he stepped out of the Inn. "Have fun tonight." Here, he smirked. "Blue might want a little sibling to tease eventually."

With that, he made his way back to Natsume Farm, before Ann or Cliff could recover from their laughter. On the way, he passed the Blacksmith Shop, where he had spent most of his days in Mineral Town, and he was glad that he had finally left the stifling, depressing environment of the building. He was probably never going to have contact with his grandfather again, but he couldn't bring himself to care that much; the man couldn't be pleased with anything anyway, so it wasn't worth it.

When he did step into his new home that night after a few hours of talking to Gotz about learning the inns and outs of Carpentry and a small bit of time in the minds, he was greeted by the smell of freshly made Baked Corn and Candied Potatoes. Jack was just pulling the corn out of the oven as he walked in, and Gray smiled at the sight of his new boyfriend in an apron. Jack put the plate of food down on the elaborately set table, and they shared a sweet kiss before either of them spoke.

"You were in the mines, weren't you?" Jack asked with a smile, and Gray nodded, setting his hammer down on the floor by the tool box.

"You were baking, weren't you?" Gray said, and Jack laughed.

"Yah. Are you going to shower?"

"Yah, I'll be back."

Gray's shower did not take him long, but finding something to wear was a different story. He finally just decided to dress himself in a pair of nice jeans and a light blue dress shirt with short sleeves and go like that. When he returned to the table, candles had been lit, and Jack was wearing jeans and a black dress shirt as well. Gray smiled, anticipating the loveliest night he'd had since he was living with his mother. Jack poured them both some of the Grape Wine that he'd probably bought from Duke and Manna, and then held his glass up in a toast.

"To new beginnings, health and happiness," he said, and Gray held up his own glass.

"To finding reasons to stay, and to love."

Jack smiled across the table, and Gray smiled back before sipping his wine.

Dinner was a lovely affair that ended with them both watching the starts from their bedroom window. The night itself dragged on, starting with the fist kiss of the night, dissolving into many. They made love slowly on the bed that night, and it was the most wonderful thing that Gray thought he'd ever done. Jack had absolutely melted under his touch, and they'd been up most of the night, teasing and testing each other, loving each other. For the first time since Gray had come to live on the farm, they shared the double bed in the room that they'd begun redecorating together, anticipating many more nights like this one, and many more Starry Night Festivals to live through together, both of them always being grateful that Gray had finally found his reason to stay.

xXx End xXx

_And there we have it. Christmas story, Harvest Moon style. I swear to you people I worked on this for two years, and it turned out longer and better than I thought it would. I wanted to add a little epilogue to it with Blue and the Hat, and maybe Jack and Gray having adopted a child, but that's just fluff really, so I might write that later and inject plot into it somewhere. But whatever, I'm happy with this. It makes me happy. Let me know what you guys think?_

_Remember, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you. Party safe, and have fun._


End file.
